Telephone attachment



H. J. RICHARDS.

TELEPHONE ATTACHMENT. APPLICATION FILED MAY I2, I91?- 1,334,319, Patented Mar. 23, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

H, J. RICHARDS.

TELEPHONE ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAYIZ, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' anwnl'oz attozmi Patented Mar. 23, 1920.

UNITED STATES rn rnnr ornion HENRY J. RICHARDS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

TELEPHONE ntr'rncmanu'r.

Application filed May 12,

To all who 12bit may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY J. RICHARDS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Telephone Attaclr ments, of which the following is a specifica tion. a

This invention relates to telephone attachments and has for its object to provide an attachment for connection to an ordinary desk telephone which will support the receiver in a position to be closely adjacent the users car when talking into the transmitter, whereby both hands of the user may he free and the annoyance and fatigue of holding the receiver for long periods are avoided.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character embodying aholder for the receiver which may be adjusted in various directions to secure a positioning of the receiver best suited for the user of the particular instrument.

A. further object of the invention is to provide a device of this kind in which the receiver is permanently supported in its position for use and the contact-controlling hook upon which the receiver is ordinarily suspended is controlled by-a trip designed to engage and hold the receiver hook down when the latter is pressed down, but not to interfere with or exert a pressure upon the hook when. the trip is released.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described which all the parts are supported from a single bracket adapted to be clamped to the neck of the transmittersupport to a position where the attachment does not illterferc with the adjustment of the transmitter or the proper use of the instrument.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character whose parts may be made in quantity by machinery with little hand labor, and which is of low manufacturing cost.

A further object of the invention is to provide an attachment of this class which shall be adjustable to fit telephone instruments of various styles and sizes with the use of only one interchangeable part.

With the above objects in view, my invention consists of the construction shown in the accompanying drawings and hereinaf er des ribed it bei g d r d th Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 23, 1920.

1917. Serial No. 168,279.

the construction disclosed is a preferred embodiment of the invention, but its design may be variously modified Without departmg from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a telephone equipped with my attachment;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the telephone shown in Fig. 1 with portions broken away;

Fig. 3 is a detached view of a portion of the attachment adjacent the telephone instrument Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views showing the method of adapting the attachment for telephones of dilferent styles; and

Fig. 6 is an elevational view showing the attachment a apted for wall telephones.

Fig. 7 is a view at right angles to Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates the bracket by which the attachment is connected. to the telephone. The bracket comprises a clamping collar 2 here shown as a part hinged to the main part of the bracket with a screw for clamping the hinged part to the bracket on the side opposite the hinge, the inner face of the hinge and the opposite face of the bracket part being lined with felt or other suitable material to secure a tight grip on the neck of the mouthpiece of the telephone without mar-ring it.

The bracket extends beyond the clamping screw in the form of an arm in which fixedly supported, by brazing or otherwise, a vertical tubular bearing 3 in which the arm at carrying the receiver support 5 is swiveled for adjustment in a horizontal plane. The arm 4 is preferably formed of a rod of metal. light enough in weight for its curve to be altered by manual. effort, but stiff enough to rigidly support the receiver once the proper adjustment of the arm is secured. The lower end of the arm is turned to fit the tubular bearing 3 and the latter is provided with a set-screw 6 by which the arm may be clamped in the desired position of horizontal. and vertical adjustment, the set-screw being preferably set in the wall of the bracket to secure an additional depth of thread.

Above its lower swiveled portion the arm 4. is curved outwardly to extend in a substantially horizontal direction from the bracket and is of proper length to support the receiver at a point sufiiciently remote Cir from the transmitter for the receiver to come adjacent the ear of the user when talkin on the telephone.

he arm 4 is preferably provided with hooks 11 through which the telephone cord is strung. hen the holder is supplied with the telephone, the cord may be materially reduced in length and may also, if desired, be connected to the instrument at the stem adjacent the bracket instead oil? at the base.

The holder 5 for the receiver comprises a cradle of resilient metal into which the receiver may be sprung in the manner indicated, and which will clamp it firmly in position. The cradle is swiveled to the end of the arm 4 by means of a screw and clamping nut 6 so that the angle of the receiver to the directionof the arm may be adjusted as desired.

In order that the weight of the receiver when supported beyond the base of the tele phone will not make the telephone liable to be easily overturned, the bracket 1 is weighted, the Weight 7 in the construction shown consisting of a knob of lead which is fixedly soldered or otherwise attached to the lower end of the vertical bearing 3 of the supporting arm.

As previously.explained, the receiver is to be supported in the cradle at all times and not returned to the usual supporting hook when the telephone is not in use. In order to control the operation of the hook there is provided a trip pivoted to the bracket 1 in a bifurcated lug 9 projecting from the side of the bracket at right angles to the support for the arm 4:, the bracket being clamped to the telephone in a position over the receiver hook.

The trip 8 comprises a threaded sleeve 10 having a lug projecting from one side by means of which it is swiveled to the bifurcated projection 9, and threaded in the sleeve is a trip arm 12 whose lower end is shaped to engage the upper face of the receiver hook to hold the latter down when the telephone is not in use.

The trip arm is adjusted in the threaded sleeve 10 to such position that when the lower horizontal portion of the trip arm which rests on the top of the receiver hook is turned to a position almost vertically under the pivot screw, the receiver hook will be held in its lowermost position. The ac tion is in effect a toggle action; the pressure from the spring of the receiver hook being substantially in line with the axis of movement has little or no tendency to turn the trip on its pivot, so that the frictional engagement of the receiver hook on the telephone of the trip arm is ample to hold the parts in position. The trip arm is locked in its adjusted position by means of clamping nuts on the threaded shank of the trip arm at eachend of the sleeve 10.

The operation of the device will now be described. After the bracket is clam )ed in place on the neck of the telephone instrument, the trip arm will be adjusted to the proper length to hold the receiver hook down in position to disconnect the telephone when the operative end of the trip arm is swung under its pivot screw. The adjustment will be loose enough for the trip arm to swing of its own weight into position over the arm of the receiver hook when the latter is pressed down, the projection on the sleeve 9 by which the trip arm is pivoted being long enough for the trip arm to normally swing well under the ln'ackct when left to swing free.

After the trip arm is adjusted to hold the receiver hook down, the receiver will be placed in the cradle with the clamping nut l3 and screw (5 and loose enough so that the receiver may be freely adjusted to properly position it for the particular user. ll necessary, the arm i may be further bent or slightly st'aightened to secure the proper adjustment. After the adjustment sccured the clamping screws will be tightened so as to maintain the receiver in fixed position.

When it is desired to use the telephone, all that is necessary is to press the lower end of the trip arm outward. The receiver hook will rise as soon as released and will remain in its upper position with the trip arm rcsting'lightly on it until it is again pros-sod down. When the com'ersation is finished, the receiver hook will be pressed down. allowing the trip arm to swing on its own weight into position to hold it down in the manner described.

It the telephone is allowed to remain on the table. the user has both hands free for writing or holding any book or document to be referred to during the conversation, or the telephone may be lifted oil the table with one hand, the attaclnnent being still' enough to maintain the receiver in proper position regardless of the angle at which the telephone is held.

My improved attachment is made applicable to all forms of table telephone instruments which are in use, by the addition to the equipment of a single interchangeable piece whi h I have shown in use in Figs. 4; and 5. This piece 13 comprises an extension for the receiver hook trip arm to adapt the latter to receive hooks of the type shown in Fig. l: in which the shank is curved and the only suitable point of engagement for the trip arm is at a distance from the standard of the telephone. In applying the part 13 to the bracket the trip arm is removed and the pointed end of the part 13 inserted in the bifurcated projection 9, the slot in the projection 9' extending into the middle of the bracket to receive the pointed end 1d 01 the extension 13 to maintain it in horizontal position. The outer end of the extension 13 is bifurcated to provide the bearing for the trip arm. The operation of the trip arm is obviously the same, whether used with the extension or directly pivoted on the bracket of the attachment.

All other variations in the dimensions, etc. of the telephone instrument will be taken care of by the long range of adjustment of the trip arm in the threaded sleeve 10 and the adjustments of the arm -IL and the supporting cradle for the receiver.

In Figs. 6 and 7 I have shown the attachment modified for use in connection with wall-supported telephones. As here shown, the bracket 15 attached to the wall adj acent the telephone instrument on the side from which the receiver hook 16 projects. The bracket consists of two telescoping parts, the outer part 15 being provided with a fork 17 in which the trip 8 is pivoted. The trip 8 is identical in construction with the trip 8 of the desk telephone attachment, and cooperates in the same way with the receiver hook, as will be obvious.

Near the end of the bracket 15 adjacent the wall an elongated vertical bearing 18 is provided in which is swiveled the arm 4 supporting the receiver, the arm 4: bein in all respects identical with the arm I. he vertical inner end of the arm 4* is mounted for vertical as well as horizontal adjustment in the bearing 18, and a set screw 19 is provided for clamping in adjusted position.

Instead of arranging the bracket 15/for attachment to the wall it may be attached directly to the casing of the telephone back of the receiver hook. The operation of this form of attachment is the same as that of the desk telephone attachment.

I claim:

1. In a telephone attachment the combination of a supportin bracket adapted to be clamped to a telep lone standard adjacent the mouth-piece, a sleeve carried by said bracket with the axis of its bore substantially vertical, a receiver-supporting arm having its lower end fitted in said sleeve for both vertical and rotary adjustment, a clampirug' screw for locking said arm in adjusted position, a receiver-supporting member swiveled on the outer end of said arm for adjustment in a horizontal plane, and a recei\'-'er-hook trip also pivoted on said bracket, said hook trip being so designed as to assume automatically when released a position to hold said receiver hook down wherebv the telephone will be maintained disconnected upon depressing the receiver hook.

2. In a telephone attachment, the coinbination of a supporting bracket adapted to be clamped to a telephone standard immediately below the mouth-piece, a receiver supporting arm connected to said bracket :for adjustment in a horizontal plane, a receiver hook controlling trip connected to said bracket and a counterwelght also attached to said bracket in position to be on the side of the telephone away from the direction of projection of the receiver-supporting arm when. adjusted in position for use.

Signed at New York city, in the county oi? New York and State of New York, this 7 day of May, 1917.

HENRY J. RICHARDS. 

